


Back to Reality

by Sanctum_Sanctorum



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Loneliness, Post-Endgame, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 16:33:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18553582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanctum_Sanctorum/pseuds/Sanctum_Sanctorum
Summary: With Thanos defeated all those who lost their lives during the battle return to earth and are reunited with their loved ones but not everyone has someone waiting for them.





	Back to Reality

Stephen blinked blearily as he came to, one second, he had been in the soul world and the next... He could feel the wind against his face, blowing through his hair. He could smell grass and hear birds singing. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see he was back on earth, he wasn’t sure where exactly but that didn’t matter right now. He looked around and he could see birds flying through the sky and as he followed them with his eyes, he found he had to raise his arm to protect his eyes from the glare of the sun. 

The sun. 

He closed his eyes again and basked in the warm comfort of the sun. He knew that they were going to defeat Thanos and that he would get back to earth but when he had been lost and drifting through the soul world... Well, it had been easy to convince himself that he would never see the sun again. 

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes and looked around. For the first time he noticed he wasn't alone. 

"Daddy!" said a little girl with brown hair. 

"Cassie? Oh my God. Cassie!" called a man as he ran towards his daughter and scooped her up into his arms. The girl looked too old and big to be lifted but her father didn't seem to care and swung his child up into a big hug, holding her tight. Stephen had never met the man but he knew he was Scott Lang the infamous Ant-Man. 

"I am Groot!" I AM GROOT!" 

Stephen turned to see that the talking tree that had been trapped in the soul world with him bounding towards a raccoon. The raccoon jumped up onto the tree's shoulder. "Gee, I missed you kid," said the raccoon. 

"I am Groot," replied the tree.

"I know, buddy. said the raccoon. "I know."

Beside them he saw Quill and the other Guardians. He saw that Quill had his arm around a pretty lady with green skin, Gamora, and that they were chatting with Nebula. The two sisters were holding hands and they seemed happy and content. 

All around him Strange saw people reuniting. He saw Nick Fury and Captain Marvel shaking hands, he watched as Bucky and Steve Rogers hugged it out, they were two friends who kept losing each other and to see them reuniting once more was heart-warming. 

He looked towards Scarlet Witch and Vision as they held each other and kissed not caring who could see them, Black Widow, Bruce, Falcon and War Machine all found each other again and spoke animatedly. 

Hawkeye was with his family and looked like the happiest man in the world. T’Challa, Shuri and Okoye laughed when they found each other and Black Panther pulled both women into a tight hug. 

He heard Thor's booming laugh to his left and looked over to see the Asgardian speaking with his brother and Stephen found himself smiling despite himself. They had reversed all of Thanos’ damage. Even those who had perished prior to the snap were back. Stephen made a mental note to re-add Loki to his list of possible dangers but for now he was happy to see the brothers together again. 

"Mr Stark!" 

Stephen jumped at the excited voice of Peter Parker and he turned to see the teenager racing across the grass. "You did it! You saved us!" 

Stephen watched as Peter reached Tony Stark in the crowds of loved ones reuniting and watched as Tony pulled the kid into a hug. "It's so great to see you kid," said Tony. "I really missed you." 

"Me too, Mr Stark."

"Kid," said Tony with a smile. "I think after all we've been through you can call me Tony." 

Stephen watched at Peter flashed Tony the brightest smile. "Okay Mr Star- I mean Tony." 

Tony laughed and hugged Peter again. 

Stephen turned away then as he didn't want to stare and he looked around for someone he knew. Was Christine here? Or Wong? He scanned the crowd but he couldn't see either of them. 

Oh.

All around him couples were hugging, parents were holding their once lost children, friends were holding each other and crying. Everyone was happy, they had found each other again. Everyone had someone.

Everyone but Stephen. 

Stephen felt a weird heaviness in his chest. He bit his lip and looked down at his feet. He wasn't completely ignorant to the fact that he had very few people in his personal life. He hadn't actually spoken to Christine in a few months and apart from the day Tony and Bruce came to the Sanctum he couldn't remember the last time anyone other than Wong had visited him. 

He looked around again at all the happy and laughing people and for the first time since becoming master of the New York sanctum he finally realised just how lonely he had become.

"It's not about you," echoed the voice of the Ancient One in his head. He knew his work was important but it would have been nice if someone could have been here to meet him and welcome him back. 

Stephen sighed. He didn't belong here. With shaking fingers, he pulled his sling ring from his pocket, took another deep breath and pictured the Sanctum in his mind before summoning a portal to go home. There was no need to say goodbye to anyone because he wouldn't be missed. 

He arrived back home and took in a deep calming breath. The familiar scent of incense and old books was a comforting one. It was good to be back. It would take a long time to recover from the battle with Thanos and he was already shuddering at the thoughts of the nightmares he would face tonight but for now it just felt incredible to be back home. The Cloak gave his shoulders an encouraging squeeze. “We’re home,” said Stephen in return. 

"Found your way back then?" 

Stephen turned and saw Wong leaning against the door that led to the sanctum's kitchen. 

"Wong," said Stephen simply. 

"Observant as ever, Strange," said Wong in a monotone but his lips curled upwards into a smile. "It's good to see you," he said. 

Stephen felt the heaviness that he had felt in his chest melt away and he returned his friend's smile. He walked towards the other sorcerer and offered him his hand to shake. "It's good to see you too, Wong."

Wong ignored Stephen's hand and pulled the other man into a hug instead. Stephen froze as Wong threw his arms around him. Wong wasn’t a people person and Stephen always figured hugs would be entirely out of the man’s comfort zone however as Stephen stood there with the man’s arms wrapped around him it was the safest he had felt in years. 

Stephen hugged the man back. He needed this, he needed this more than he could put into words. He needed someone to hold him, just for a minute. Just a little reminder that someone did care for him. A reminder that not only did someone care but that he had been missed too. It wasn’t all about him, the Ancient One was right about that, but sometimes just for a minute he needed to be reminded that just because it wasn’t all about him that didn’t mean that he didn’t matter.

Wong finally broke away after a few moments. "You still owe me that tuna melt," he said "and after all that waiting I think you owe me a coffee and a blueberry muffin too."

Stephen threw his head back and laughed. He had missed this man. "Did you miss me or did you just hate paying for your own lunch?

Wong laughed too. "Both."

**Author's Note:**

> This was a really quick idea for a fic that came to me today and I decided to write it and post it and get back into the fic writing game. Dedicated to duskybatfishgrl on Twitter who also thought of our poor boy Stephen returning to earth with nobody to greet him.


End file.
